Five keys to understanding the scope of the Paris Agreement and the opportunities for Latin America

6 minutes

By Libelula hace 10 year

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By: Aida Figari @aidafigari

On April 22nd will be the official signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement, adopted during COP21 in December 2015. The signing is the first step in the implementation of the Agreement, which will bring exciting opportunities for Latin America.

In this context, Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), presented in a recent webinar the fundamental axes of the Paris Agreement and how it is framed in the reality of Latin America. The webinar was organized by the Regional Center for Climate Change and Decision Making, LatinClima and Earth Journalism Network of Internews.

Libélula presents a summary of the main ideas presented by Christiana.

# 1 What are the fundamental axes of the Paris Agreement?

Christiana explained that there are four fundamental axes of the Agreement, which have a starting point, a route and a final destination.

Starting point. The National Contributions (NDCs) or national plans to address climate change, submitted by 189 countries (out of 195), have been prepared by each country, based on an internal review exercise, taking into account its own political, financial and social conditions. They have been prepared in coherence with its growth and development plan and identifying how it could contribute to the global emissions reduction target. Each country's National Contribution is derived from an internal analysis of how the country can benefit nationally and with its own development vision.

The pathway. It is recognized that the sum of the current National Commitments does not lead us to the desired global goal (to limit the temperature increase to well below 2°C) and it is understood that these Contributions are not the end of the road but the first step. But a path of collective effort is being built, where progress towards the global target will be reviewed every 5 years and each country is expected to increase its ambition.

The final destination: where are we going? Toward zero net emissions, i.e., to achieve by the second half of the century the ecological balance between what we emit of GHGs and what the planet can absorb naturally.

In addition, adaptation to climate change, especially in the most vulnerable countries, is inevitable. Therefore, countries have a commitment to increase their adaptation efforts.

The 4 axes are based on the financial and technological support that the countries of the North can provide to the countries of the South.

Do you know what a National Contribution is? Here we explain it to you.

# 2 What is the purpose of the Paris Agreement?

Primarily, the Accord seeks to decouple economic growth from the growth of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Developing countries must continue their economic and social growth but decouple it from the GHG emissions curve.

Learn about the 10 key issues of the Paris Agreement.

# 3 How is the Paris Agreement framed in the reality of Latin America?

Latin America is a microcosm of what can be done around the world, for the following reasons:

More development and low emissions. We are the region that has achieved the best human development (e.g. schooling, infrastructure, political stability) with relatively low emissions, thanks mainly to our water resources - which contribute to electricity generation - and our forest cover. We are in an advantageous position with respect to the goal of decoupling economic growth from our emissions growth, but we face the challenge of decarbonizing our energy matrix and halting deforestation, which may buck the trend. We are doing well, but will we continue to do well?
Political leadership in the region. Evaluating the last 10 years, several Latin American countries have shown political leadership on climate change. Brazil and Costa Rica have had leadership in the design of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the Kyoto Protocol. The COP16 in Cancun (which successfully followed the failure of COP15 in Copenhagen) and COP20 in Lima (which put us in good stead for the Paris Agreement) were led by the governments of Mexico and Peru, respectively.
Wealth of natural resources. Latin America has a quarter of the arable land and a quarter of the forest cover, in addition to water, solar and wind resources. Some are part of the solution and others are part of the challenges, which puts us at the crossroads of which development model we are going to follow.
Interesting political diversity. Latin America is part of negotiating groups with very different positions, such as ALBA (formed by Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela) and AILAC (formed by Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru). Mexico is also a leader in the region, being one of the first countries to present its National Contribution and committing to achieving zero deforestation by 2030.

Learn how countries are grouped to defend common positions in climate negotiations, according to their geographical, economic and political affinities.

# 4 What other issues should we consider in Latin America?

The warning voice that we must continue to raise in the region is to set the tone with government policies, bearing in mind that we must avoid condemning ourselves to a GHG emissions profile based on the carbonization of our economy. To meet the global target, it is estimated that we have to reach 2050 with a global average emission of 2 tons of CO₂ per capita. Latin America is a little above this. However, if we continue with the economic growth pattern currently proposed, we would increase to 9 tons of CO₂ per capita. This condemns the most vulnerable population to remain in poverty.

# 5 So, more emissions = more poverty?

More emissions means a destabilization of the atmospheric system that has natural impacts on the region and forces us to constantly rebuild the basic infrastructure (homes, hospitals, roads, churches) using government resources, which are not abundant, to build the basics of the populations. We condemn ourselves to never get out of poverty.

The complete webinar is available in this link.

Interesting resources: